Chapter 6: Them

When I opened the old creaky door all I see are mops, brooms, cloths, soap, and other cleaning supplies. I'm in a fake maid's closet, made for these secret tunnels the King has. Very peculiar, opening the door in front of me and I'm greeted by stares from young girls in their nightclothes.

From another point of view, I'm a girl who just walked out of a maid's closet, I can just hear the rumors spreading already. To add to my list of problems Mr. Anderson storms up to me and grabs me by the wrist. He angrily fumes me into his office, for such a short man he walks swiftly.

He sits down in his carved spruce wood chair. "Care to explain why your I.B went off?" He raises his brow at me, playing with his pen. I didn't say anything, I didn't know what to say. "And then you somehow deactivate it?" I must be looking like a cherry tomato.

"If I wasn't busy so with-" He stops himself before he goes on. "With?" I ask slyly, trying to lighten the mood. His cheeks flush as red as mine, "No one." He says with a sigh, trying to divert the subject but so was I. "So it was some?" He gives a defeated sigh seeing the determination in my eyes.

"If I tell you, you promise not to break the rules again?" He asks, his teacher tone coming back. I nod my head as I say, "Promise and I won't tell a soul." He takes a big gulp and starts his story. "We got married five years back. Today is our anniversary."He says as he fiddles with the wedding ring on his finger.

"Congratulations," I said with a caring smile and he gives me a quick "Thank you" back and then continues with his story. "They're my whole world, I don't know what I would do without them."

I then realize something, "Them?" I ask, trying not to be rude. "They're non-binary." He said with a proud smile. I smile back  at him, "How come I haven't seen them around?" I inquire, "Children can be very judgemental." He told me simply, trying to finish the conversation.

I nod and give an accepting smile, "I won't break the rules again." He said a quick goodbye to me and then we both went our separate ways before tomorrow.

As I lay in my bed my eyes drift off and so does my mind. I can't stop thinking about Levi, his warm presence, his strong hands. Everything about him drew me to him and as I drift off to sleep I couldn't help but think to myself that I had a full conversation with the king of Northmere.

Waking up, the cold winter air biting the skin that isn't covered with a blanket. But I don't care, life's going up. Kathleen one, life null. I feel like a million dollars, with everything that happened yesterday. Unfortunately, I have a lot to do today and to my dismay, I can't lay in bed all day and daydream about next Tuesday.

Walking out of my room with my school uniform on, my books in a bag on my back, and a wide smile on my face I meet up with Edith outside my class.

"Why are you so overly joyous this morning?" She asks in her usual monotone voice as she walks forward, not even making eye contact. "Oh it's nothing that you should be concerned over,"  I say, my voice as dreamy as ever. She openly shrugs her shoulders and accepts the answer I supplied her with.

Anna walks up next to me, "Is it that boy that gave you that note?"She must have overheard our conversation or picked up with my dreamy state. I panic and quickly lie out the first thing on my mind "No, it is not a boy," I tell Anna and she whines in return. Clearly upset with the lack of love interests in my life.

I have two free periods today so I decided to go to the library to do some homework and write to my dear mother. She did say that she misses me a great deal in the last letter that she wrote but that she is doing just fine. Enjoying the free time that she does have.

Dear mother,

This school is massive! It's very overwhelming at first. My vocabulary has improved greatly. I'm trying my hardest to study and work and I have made some wonderful friends. Their names are Edith and Anna.

This school has a lot more rules than I am used to. They are extremely strict here and implement their rules with a bracelet they gave me. This bracelet called an infinite band, it sends an alert to a teacher when you break some of the most important rules.

Now I know the question on your mind. Have I met any boys? I mean this school does have a lot of handsome boys but none of them has really caught my eye. I am way too busy with my school work to focus on boys.

Other than that I'm doing spectacular!  I have started orchestra practice and they do go quick. S to catch up I practiced alone with mister Anderson. He and I grew close really quickly, almost like the dad I never had.

I can not wait to see you again and I hope you are doing well.

With love

~Kathleen

I hope that puts her mind to rest on any boys, I do not wish to stop seeing Levi and that means that I can not get caught.

I really can't wait to see Levi again, to have his soothing voice ringing in my ears. Is this me being in love? Snap out of it woman! He's way too old for you, or is he? I still don't know how old he is, maybe he never--

A book caught my attention, its light blue, mint green, and white cover draw me to it. I go over and take the book out of the bookshelf. The title read as, "Doctor Miller's book of findings." I open at the index and the title, "Stutters" catches my eyes.

Opening to the correct page I skim through the texts. There are some absurd remedies, such as slicing the tongue in half, talking with pebbles in your mouth, or cutting the tongue shorter.  I shuddered at the thought of the first and last one.

To my luck, there were some non-radical ways of solving the problem. The bell rang right as I found the book and so I took the book out. Quickly stuffing it in my bag and making my way to my next class.

The night rolled around. Cold air sweeping around my room, making the air frigid. Moonlight shining in through the window illuminating just enough that I did not need to light a candle to see.

My night clothing swaying around my hips as I walk over to my bed. Sliding in between the warm covers. A picture of Levi flashing through my mind once more before darkness consumes me.

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I would like to make a disclaimer, Levi is not a pedophile. For now, they are just friends.